Michael Fitzmaurice: Rural Ireland and contractors left behind
Michael Fitzmaurice addresses gaps in current fuel and relief measures, highlighting how home heating oil users and small contractors have been overlooked. He calls attention to HVO taxes, diesel prices for plant hire, and the lack of rebates for own-account hauliers.
Main point: Fitzmaurice argues that sectors using home heat and oil are effectively excluded from meaningful support and that measures so far have not reached ordinary households and local contractors.
HVO and home heating: He acknowledges proposals on HVO and the emissions benefits being reported, but stresses that heavy taxation and the absence of targeted relief leave many households unprotected.
Plant hire and construction impact: Fitzmaurice outlines how every house build begins with a digger and a dump truck, and says rising diesel costs hit groundworks, water and sewer jobs, and small contractors who must price diesel into every project.
Haulage and own-account lorries: He highlights a forgotten group - firms that carry their own products and do not need a haulage licence - noting that existing emergency funds and rebate arrangements do not address their costs.
Consequences: The speech urges policymakers to review tax and rebate rules so that home heating oil users, plant hire contractors and own-account hauliers are not left out of fuel policy and relief schemes.
Main point: Fitzmaurice argues that sectors using home heat and oil are effectively excluded from meaningful support and that measures so far have not reached ordinary households and local contractors.
HVO and home heating: He acknowledges proposals on HVO and the emissions benefits being reported, but stresses that heavy taxation and the absence of targeted relief leave many households unprotected.
Plant hire and construction impact: Fitzmaurice outlines how every house build begins with a digger and a dump truck, and says rising diesel costs hit groundworks, water and sewer jobs, and small contractors who must price diesel into every project.
Haulage and own-account lorries: He highlights a forgotten group - firms that carry their own products and do not need a haulage licence - noting that existing emergency funds and rebate arrangements do not address their costs.
Consequences: The speech urges policymakers to review tax and rebate rules so that home heating oil users, plant hire contractors and own-account hauliers are not left out of fuel policy and relief schemes.
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Transcript
I welcome to be able to speak in this debate. I think we need to look at sectors that have been left behind, the home heat and oil. I know that there was a good few proposals in relation to HVO and you know HVO would cut emissions 90% is the stats I'm hearing, but there's still a lot of taxes on it. I think that needs looking at. But for people right around the country that's using home heat and oil, there is nothing there. The other side and has been brought up earlier in relation to the plant hire and every house, the first thing that goes into it is a digger and either a dump truck or a dump trailer. And every part of that, all the ground works, all the water, all the sewer, all the roads, you know the big contractors down there, there is a problem there with the price of diesel for all the jobs that have to be priced at. And maybe there's clauses in some of those contracts with the councils or with the roads authorities, but there is ordinary contractors that build houses and they're left out of this little ball to go. The second part is that we still, I've talked about it a number of times, the lorry people that has say a quarry that doesn't need the haulage licence, and yes there is a fund brought in over I think it's 157 plus FET in relation to a war emergency fund, but there's nothing in the rebate for them. There is important to someone bringing a meal say from a mill that has their own lorries, carrying your own product, you don't need a haulage licence. And that sector seems to be still forgotten about.